St. Louis created a gun buyback program to cut down on violence. The kicker? They don't expect crim

Well, since very few violent gun-felons buy their weapons at FFL dealers retail, where do you think most of those guns come from?

They come from non-criminal gun owners who either sell their guns in private-party unregulated transfers, OR give guns to friends and family members, OR have their guns stolen and sent into the black market that way.

If somebody (the government, or some church group or liberal activist group) buys up a bunch of unwanted guns from casual (but legal) gun owners who really don't care much about guns and would rather have a gift certificate for some Air Jordans than that Hi Point in the sock drawer, fine.

Let the do-gooders buy that gun and have it melted down before the casual, lazy gun owner decides to sell it to that gang-banger down the block who offered $100 for a working handgun and a loaded clip. Let the government buy that double-barrel 12-gauge from momma before her hoodlum teenage son saws the barrels off at 11" and uses it to stick up Abu at the Quicky-Mart. Let dad sell his G.I. .30 carbine at the church gun-buyback before his teenage daughter, who he knows has been depressed for years and thinks may be suicidal, before the girl decides to use it on herself one day when she's home alone.